1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front pillar portion of an automobile, and more particularly to a reinforcement structure for front pillar portion of automobile constructed and arranged to additionally attach a reinforcement member between a lower end of a pillar portion and a dash panel to thereby provide a structural strength to the front pillar portion, reducing deformation of the front pillar portion during front and side collision accidents for enhanced safety of passengers in the automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a front body of an automobile includes as illustrated in FIG. 1, a hood portion 1 openably and closeably arranged at an engine room for mounting various parts of engine and power transmission system, a fender portion 3 encompassing wheels 2 from left/right sides of the hood portion 1 and a front pillar portion 5 lengthily extended upward for mounting a front door 4 positioned at a rear side of the fender portion 3, where a lower portion of the front pillar portion 5 is featured in FIG. 2 for illustrating an interior of the xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d section of FIG. 1.
In other words, the front pillar portion 5 contacts a seal side portion 6 vertically extended and arranged in the direction of an automobile body, where the seal side portion 6 touches a floor portion 7 inside the automobile, the floor portion 7 in turn contacts a dash panel 8 for partitioning an inside of the automobile and the engine room.
Meanwhile, the front pillar portion 5 is such constructed that an inner pillar panel 10, a pillar reinforcement panel 11 and an outer pillar panel 12 respectively form a closed sectional shape, as illustrated in FIG. 3 depicting a section along line Axe2x80x94A in FIG. 2.
Furthermore, the inner pillar panel 10 is coupled by a bolt to a hood release lever 13 connected via a hood latch and a cable (not shown) for opening a hood, such that a driver, when opening the hood, pulls the hood release lever 13 to release coupling of the hood latch. The inner pillar panel 10 of the front pillar portion 5 is joined by a tip end of the dash panel 8.
Meanwhile, the inner pillar panel 10 should be designed to have a sufficient strength to stand a manipulating force applied from the hood release lever 13 when the lever 13 is manipulated because the inner pillar panel 10 at the front pillar portion 5 is mounted via a bolt with the hood release lever 13 where manipulation is performed when the hood is opened. The inner pillar panel according to the prior art is therefore processed thereon with grooves and the like for reinforced structural strength of recessed and protruded shape.
However, even though the inner pillar panel 10 is formed thereon with grooves for reinforced structural strength, the inner pillar panel 10 tends to be deformed due to manipulation power applied thereto by frequent manipulation of the hood release lever 13, which makes it impossible to perform a normal operation when the hood release lever 13 is manipulated and causes an exterior appearance deteriorated.
Furthermore, the deformation generated at the inner pillar panel 10 of the front pillar portion 5 by frequent manipulation of the hood release lever 13 can hardly absorb shock transmitted to the body during front and lateral collision accidents, thereby threatening safety of passengers in the automobile.
The present invention is disclosed to solve the aforementioned problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a reinforcement structure for front pillar portion of automobile constructed and arranged to additionally attach a reinforcement member between a lower end of front pillar portion and a dash panel to thereby provide a structural strength to the front pillar portion, minimizing deformation of the front pillar portion during front and side collision accidents for safety of passengers in the automobile.
In accordance with the object of the present invention, there is a provided a reinforcement structure for a front pillar portion of an automobile in a front body of the automobile having a front pillar portion bent and coupled to form a closed sectional shape by an inner pillar panel, a pillar reinforcement and an outer pillar panel and a dash panel for partitioning an engine room and an inside of the automobile by being coupled to the inner pillar panel at the front pillar portion, therein the inner pillar panel is joined by one end of a first reinforcement bracket and the dash panel is coupled by one end of a second reinforcement bracket, while the other ends of the first and second reinforcement bracket, while the other ends of the first and second reinforcement brackets are so constructed that a closed sectional shape is formed between the inner pillar panel and the dash panel by reinforcement members respectively overlapped and coupled.